Coupeville freshman Trent Thule was a two-way terror Thursday, striking out 10 on the mound and getting on base three times as a hitter. (Jackie Saia photos)
Trent Thule had himself quite a day.
The Coupeville High School freshman was in the spotlight Thursday, pitching and hitting the Wolf baseball squad past visiting Concrete, even after leaving some of his blood on the prairie thanks to taking a wayward pitch to the face.
Thule finished the day with two base knocks and a walk, with the latter leaving him with a bloody nose and black eye, while also striking out 10 Lions across 6.2 innings of work in a 9-6 win which wasn’t as close as it might sound.
The victory gives Coupeville a season sweep of Concrete, while lifting the Wolves to 7-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 9-4 overall.
Steve Hilborn’s squad, which hosts South Whidbey in a non-conference Island rivalry rumble Friday, sits a game off of Mount Vernon Christian (8-0) in the race for a conference crown, with the matchup between those two teams set for the final two regular season games the first week of May.
Thursday’s bout with Concrete wasn’t as lopsided as the first meeting, when CHS won 25-0, but the Wolves were still in control from the first pitch to the last.
Thule didn’t give up a hit until the fourth inning and was just a dropped third strike away from being flawless through three frames.
With their young buzzsaw setting the Lions down in order, the Wolves broke out for three runs in the bottom of the first to get things rockin’.
Leo Rodriguez whacked a leadoff double, then three batters later he came around to score thanks to a two-bagger from cleanup hitter Camden Glover.
Glover also scored on the play when Concrete’s outfielder threw the ball away, and a little later Aiden O’Neill also took advantage of a Lion error to tap home.
Coupeville stretched the advantage to 4-0 in the third, with Thule crunching an RBI single, before tacking on two runs in the fourth thanks to a series of walks mixed with Concrete errors.
The Lions did get one run back in the fifth, but CHS responded with a three-run sixth to open a convincing 9-1 lead.
That frame featured a two-run single off the bat of Glover, but also a number of Wolves being drilled by pitches, including Thule.
Despite being injured, the fab frosh convinced his coach he was ready to return to the mound, and he came within a pitch or two of throwing a complete game.
Concrete rallied late to make things interesting, but Glover came out of the bullpen to get the game’s final out, whiffing the only Lion he faced to slam the door shut on another Wolf win.
Thursday stats:
Chase Anderson — One walk
Coop Cooper — One walk
Camden Glover — One single, one double
Carson Grove — Three walks
Aiden O’Neill — One single, one walk
Leo Rodriguez — One double, one walk
Killian Shaw — One single
Malachi Somes — One single
Trent Thule — Two singles, one walk
Aiden Tingley — One walk
Killian Shaw (9) was one of six Wolves to get a hit in the win over Concrete.
Coupeville Sports 